ART 108 Reflection
I think the first and foremost important learning point for this course was the idea that iteration is everything. This actually ended up influencing a lot of my design work as a graphic designer as well.
Obviously there is an overwhelming amount of history about games, but iteration is what drove a lot of this history. This repetition also ties into the repetition of learning the coursework. All aspects of the class helped to drive the information in and instill a strong recall reaction. The discussions were engaging and tied nicely with the lectures. The projects really drove home the reality behind game design and development.
I appreciate the early project that introduced team building abilities and project management: the Marshmallow Contest. Essentially we were instructed to create a structure out of thin wood skewers, tape, string, and a marshmallow. The structure that won could hold the marshmallow the highest. It was both an introduction to team comradery and management. The structures could improve with iteration.
The first game we built with another companion was a race to the finish that we actually iterated and may have influenced a final game design. We had to learn how to include player agency and choice as well as fun! We did end up iterating once and it could have improved further. The digital board game project also included a lot of iteration and learning player agency.
The final game design was iterated upon multiple times and improved upon as the semester progressed.
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The biggest takeaway for me was the pride I feel after developing a playable game with such a competent team. The game is beautiful and challenging while being so entertaining! The amount of work that went into the game and playing the game to determine what needed fixing was time consuming but gratifying. I learned a lot about team management and overall worked with such a responsive and responsible group.
I appreciate the lectures that taught us how to analyze games and how it was able to influence how we chose to design our game. Now knowing the MDA analysis influences a lot of how I think of games now and also drives me to want to make more games.
I am so thankful that I chose to take this course and the amazing people it introduced me to. I think this whole class introduced me to a whole new perspective but also the idea that I could pursue game development in the future.
I’d like to thank my professor and my partners for making this whole experience and final semester absolutely amazing.
